There are many benefits to practicing proper dental hygiene. By brushing one's teeth, flossing, and using antiseptic mouthwash, a person can help prevent tooth decay, maintain fresh breath, and reduce unpleasant visits with an endodontist or oral surgeon. It is recommended that people brush their teeth twice a day for about two minutes each session. Other recommendations include making regular visits to the dentist and periodically replacing old toothbrushes. However, because of various reasons, people do not always follow these guidelines for proper dental hygiene and might experience problems as a result.
Over the years, toothbrush manufacturers have made many changes in the designs of toothbrushes. Generally, the design of a toothbrush does not greatly impact the quality of the dental care offered to a user. Thus, the choice of toothbrushes is mainly a matter of personal preference. Electric toothbrushes provide an additional choice in the selection of dental care. One advantage of electric toothbrushes is that they provide the needed movement of the brushing bristles and they do the work for the user in this regard. Some drawbacks with respect to electric toothbrushes can be the higher cost versus regular toothbrushes and the added responsibility of maintaining fresh batteries to power the device although rechargeable options do exist.
The various designs and features of toothbrushes not only provide a marketing opportunity for the manufacturers, but also the toothbrush features may be used as a motivation for people to take better care of their teeth. Additionally, since it can be particularly challenging at times to teach and motivate children to practice adequate dental hygiene, toothbrush manufacturers sometimes add an element of entertainment in the teeth brushing routine.
With particular reference to the guideline that a person should brush for a time of two minutes, timers can be used to alert the user when the time has expired. However, depending on the speed that people brush their teeth, two minutes might not be long enough to adequately brush the entire mouth or it might be more than enough time. Some of the more expensive electric toothbrushes have been designed with a built-in timer and an alarm for indicating when a predetermined time expires. The higher cost of these electric toothbrushes can discourage some people from purchasing these types.
Further, conventional alarms for such toothbrushes, and other devices, generally, may not be sufficient to effectively alert the users of these devices, when motion, or other condition, is sensed. Users of such devices may not perceive the alarm particularly when operating in hectic environments, (e.g., bathrooms on weekday mornings, emergency rooms, etc.), and/or when bombarded with competing audio and/or visual stimuli.